UPDATE: Reading Goals for 2020

I’m a little late on this update, but when I checked on my goals I was surprised by how much I’d gotten done! Here’s my original post from the beginning of the year. But for those of you who don’t want to click through, here’s my list:

• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Try The Princess Diaries series
• Finish series’ that I own (The Remnant Chronicles, The Reckoners)
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Kristin Hannah books
• Ruth Ware books
• Reread Twilight

I’m super proud of everything I’ve accomplished so far. Early in the year I read The Little Prince and the beginning of quarantine was a great time to binge the entire Princess Diaries series. I quickly binged the Twilight series before Midnight Sun came out this summer (I was never planning on reading it, but it reminded me that I had this as a goal). I was really curious to see how the series would read as an adult since the last time I read it, I was still a teenager (my review).

I only ended up reading one Kristin Hannah and Ruth Ware book apiece–I just didn’t LOVE their writing styles so I didn’t feel that urge to pick up any of their other books. For Kristin Hannah, I read The Great Alone (review)and for Ruth Ware I read The Death of Mrs. Westaway (review). I liked The Great Alone a lot more than the Ruth Ware book, but I’ll definitely have to be in the right mood before I read another Kristin Hannah book I think.

I ended up listening to the audio book for The Tale of Two Cities and I thought that ended up being a really good decision. I think if I’d tried to read it, I would have missed some things. I think I would have been more confused as to what was going on and I definitely would have missed the little jokes throughout–Dickens is funny! Who knew? So to anyone who’s struggling with reading classics, I might suggest finding an audio version!

I’ve got 1984 sitting on my Kindle right now, but I’m not sure I’ll get to it before it’s due back at the library. I still need to pick which series I want to finish, but right now I think I’m planning on doing three which would consist of four books that I own. We’ll see though…

How are your 2020 Reading Goals coming?

38 Best Book Deals for 5/20/20: Big Little Lies, The Library Book, The Proposal and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!

Less than $1

The Seventh Sun by Lani Forbes

The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride #1) by James Patterson

Less than $2

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

No Judgments by Meg Cabot

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

The Beholder by Anna Bright

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson & Ellen Hagan

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) by Philip Pullman

Final Girls by Riley Sager

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Less than $3

Rebel by Marie Lu

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro & Daniel Kraus

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Florida by Lauren Groff

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

---

Recommended from this post:

5 Series I’ve Given Up On

I’ve come to accept that there’s a time in your reading life when you just have to say, “Enough is enough!” and give up on that series that you’ve been “meaning” to read. This has happened to me several times over the years and I wanted to share a few of those with you today.

I just want to clarify real quick, I’m definitely in the middle of some series that have…ahem…stalled…but that I’m still planning on getting back to (Caraval, Jackaby, or Miss Peregrine’s for example). In contrast, this is a list of series that I have legitimately no intention of going back to.

I Am Number Four series

I really liked this series and meeting the whole cast of characters, but it just has droned on and on. I think there are like…10 books at this point? I’m just done with the series and it would probably read too young for me anyway.

Cassandra Clare

I never ended up reading book 6 of The Mortal Instruments series let alone The Dark Artifices series. This is another case where I really liked the series when I was in high school, but I think that the writing probably wouldn’t live up to my current standards.

Legend trilogy by Marie Lu

I’m pretty sure I read the first two books in this series? But then by the time the third book came out, I’d lost interest. I had a copy of Champion on my shelf for a while, but I eventually unhauled it.

Firebird trilogy by Claudia Gray

Similar to Legend, I read the first two books and I actually still have the third sitting on my Kindle, but I feel no draw to get back to it.

Rick Riordan

This is another series that has kind of exploded with the number of books that are in it. There’s like three different series that are all intertwined or something? I’ve just completely lost track of which books I’ve read in which series. I’ll always love Greek and Roman mythology and they were great for the time of my life that I was in when I was reading them, but I need to move on.

What are some series that you’ve given up on? Let me know in the comments! And stay tuned for another blog post coming soon featuring series that I’ve finished and remember nothing about!

How Ashley got her groove back | July TBR

I’m hoping I get my groove back this month at least. Towards the end of June, I felt my groove was on its way back, so we’ll see if that continues. It may get thrown off because we’ve got a family reunion to go to, but for now I think I’m getting into a rhythm and I hope that’s reflected by my reading.

• Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (Book Club)
• Wilder Girls by Rory Power [ARC]
• This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills
• House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig [ARC]
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Continue reading)
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley (Continue listening)

Since I’m reading Jane Eyre through Serial Reader, it’ll probably still take me a month or two before I finish it. And I’m working through the Flavia de Luce mysteries on our morning walks, so those will be ongoing as well. Does anyone have any good, light series that they’d recommend as audiobooks? I’d prefer a series with lots of books that is different from the Flavia de Luce mysteries (and that won’t have a million holds on them *cough* Harry Potter *cough*). I could see myself getting tired of the Flavia mysteries and wanting to switch off every other book.

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

February TBR

In February, I have a couple of book club books to get to and some stuff for work. I’m hoping to get to some other fun stuff too, though! (Not that the other stuff isn’t fun, but when it’s assigned, it’s a little different).

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
• The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons
• Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal
• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
• You Owe Me a Murder by Eileen Cook
• Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (I’ve learned my lesson with series and I won’t start this one until later in the month)

I’ll limit myself to that for now. I didn’t get through as many books as I would have liked last month–we’ll see how this month goes.

Top Ten Tuesday: The Eternal TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic and this week’s topic is: Top Ten Series I’ve Been Meaning To Start But Haven’t

So many guys. There are so many of these (links to Goodreads).

Series that I haven’t started yet

For most of these, I literally have the first book in the series just chilling on my shelf or Kindle, I just haven’t been able to get to them!

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater – I’ve only heard good things about this series and the covers are so pretty!

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman – This is one that my husband wants to do a buddy read with me on. But I only want to do it if he can commit to finishing them all in a timely manner which…he can’t commit to

Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab – I love these covers and I love This Savage Song and I’ve heard really good things…need I go on?

Red Rising by Pierce Brown – This is one that I was really interested in a couple years ago, but have cooled off on since. I still want to read it though–my husband’s cousin gave this series a great review.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken – I was interested in these books, but then I heard that the movie would be coming out with Mandy Moore in it.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu – I enjoyed her other series, so I’m interested in this one too.

His Fair Assassin by Robin LaFevers – I tried reading the first book once and didn’t really get into it. Now, I feel like the timing is right and that I’d really enjoy these books.

The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare – I’ll basically read any book about Shadowhunters.

The Witchlands by Susan Dennard – I’ve heard good things about this series–just need to start reading the first book (which is currently on my Kindle…)

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch – Basically the same story as The Witchlands. Also, those covers are super appealing to me for some reason.

BONUS: Started, but not finished

Flavia de Luce by Alan Bradley
Stopped after: The first book. I have like…the next five on my shelf. I think I just need to be in the right mood and then I’ll read all of them in like 2 weeks.

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
Stopped after: Book #5. Here’s the thing. I was waiting for book #6 to come out and then when I finally got it, I had forgotten everything that had happened in the previous books. So I wanted to reread the first 5, but that’s a much bigger commitment than just reading the last one.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Stopped after: The first book. These just take a while to get through. I’ll make it eventually.

Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore
Stopped after: Either #5 or #6. But that in and of itself is the problem. I can never remember which book I’m on and there are so many!

Jackaby by William Ritter
Stopped after: The first book. I have books 2 and 3 on my shelf, just waiting. I really enjoyed the first book so there is no reason why I shouldn’t enjoy the next two…I just haven’t felt particularly enthused (even though I still want to read them).

The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson
Stopped after: The second book. I think I’ve been telling myself that I want to reread the first two books before finishing the third, but I just need to own up to the fact that this will never happen and just finish the series.

Legend by Marie Lu
Stopped after: The second book. This is a series that I picked up, read the first two books, and then forgot about while I was waiting for the third book to come out. Now I have the third book on my shelf, but can’t remember anything that happened in the first two books.

Which of these unread/unfinished series should I move to the top of the list? What are some series that you have yet to start/complete?

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Finished Series That I Haven’t Finished

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week there is a new topic and this week’s topic is: Ten Finished Series I Have YET to Finish

1) The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare – TBR: City of Heavenly Fire (and all of the novellas)

2) His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman – TBR: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass

3) The Maze Runner series by James Dashner – TBR: The Kill Order (prequel)

4) The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan – TBR: The House of Hades, The Blood of Olympus

5) The Legend Series by Marie Lu – TBR: Champion

6) The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud – TBR: The Ring of Solomon (prequel)

7) The Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks – TBR: Of Triton, Of Neptune (not sure if this series is actually finished)

8) Precious Stone Trilogy by Kerstin Gier – TBR: Sapphire Blue, Emerald Green

9) The Paper Magician Trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg – TBR: The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, The Master Magician

10) The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken – TBR: The Darkest Minds, Never Fade, In The Afterlight (not sure if this series is actually finished either)